Amusement apparatus



June18, 1935'. J. F. MACOUREK AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed Jul 21, 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 18, 1935. J. F. MACOUREK 2,005,231

AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed July 21, 1934 e Sheets-Sheet 2 JarryF-Zfaco zirefif June l8, 1935. J. F. MACONUREK ,0

AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed Jul 21, 1934 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 r gq Q/rIY FMacozzrek' June 18, 1935. J. F. MACOUREK AMUSEMENT APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 21, 1954 QCF. 8. I

/' [Meal/rein June 18, 1935. J. F. MACOUREK AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed July 21. 1954 e SheetQs-Sheet e Patented Jerry F.Macourek, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to GustavusW. Snyder, Columbus, Ohio Application July 21, 1934, Serial No. 736,382 oiaimni (01. 273-442) The present-invention relates to' mechanical amusement furnishing apparatus and has particular reference toamusement apparatus adapted for association with coin controlled vendingmachines for the purposeof promoting us'eof such machines and to stimulate sales therefrom.

It is an object of the present invention toprovide amusement apparatus of the abovecha'racter wherein is involved a plurality of spinning supports, rotatable about a common axis and .Wherein the said supports-are of different diameter and arranged in different planes of rotation so' that racing figures of uniform height, mounted in circularly spaced order on the peripheral" portions of said'suppo-rtsmay be presentedto view through the sight opening in the cabinet of the machine in which the apparatus is contained in an improved manner and ,capable of being readily and clearly viewed by the operator of the apparatus. Another object of the invention resides in the provision of coinire'leased actuating mechanism for imparting simultaneous rotation to the spinning supports on which the racing figuresjare carried, togetherwith improved means for. effecting the stopping of said supports in varied sequence so that the outcome of any given operation of the racing figures will be unknown to the player or players of the "apparatus.

30 referenceis tobe'had to the following description and'the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of'the cabinet containing the vending and amusement run nishing apparatus comprising the present'inven 35- tion; A I Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional ,view taken through the cabinet and disclosing more particularly the rotatable spinners or supportson which the racing figures are mounted;. I V J Figl 3- is a vertical, transverse sectional view taken'through the cabinet on the plane indicated by the lineIIIIIII-ofFig.2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken through the cabinet lookingtowardtheinternal apparatus disposed within the cabinet from the rear, the apparatus being disclosed in rear elevatiorn- Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional view through the coin advancing mechanism; Fig. 6 isa horiaontarsectionali' view taken through the coin advancing mechanism; r Fig. 7 is ahorizontal 'sectionalpviewjtaken through the cabinet and disclosing more partic- 55 ularlythe-mechanism"for'imparting rotation to supporting means;

the numeral 1 designates the cabinet which con- Fora further understanding'of the invention,

p which the operator of the, machine can observe a coin or token has been inserted, I provide a lock shown in Fig;6,'is pivoted asawr'anua te'n the game figure spinners and the means for arresting such rotation; 1

Fig. 8fis a horizontal sectional .view taken through the'lowerportion of the cabinet and disclosing the rock shaft and associated timing 5 means forimparting rotation to thegameispin- 7 nets and regulatingsuch rotation; :5

Fig. 9 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the game spinners and their axial j Fig. '10 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the upper portion of the cabinetand disclosing the game figure spinners in elevation.v

Referring more particularly to the drawings, j"

tains the mechanical amusement furnishing apparatus forming the subject matter of the present invention, and which is preferably used in conjunction with merchandise, vending, means, indicated at B, also disposed; within the. cabinet. The front of this cabinet is provided,.-with Va glazedwindow opening 2, through which'the acltion of the racing objects, constituting thesalient elements of the apparatus, may be viewed and the resultsof the race determined. Also arranged in the front of the cabinet at the top. thereof is an opening 3 into which the coin,-check,,token or other actuating piece used in playing the deviceis inserted. Another elongated. glazed window 3 isarranged below; the opening 3 through the movement of his coin or token as it. is advanced into the machine; An operating hand lever .4 is provided. on one side of the cabinet and is used to .putthe 'racingobjects' in motion following the insertion of 'acoinl or check, also t'o'control the release of the vending meansg- 'iTo prevent theoperation of themachine until lever. 5fulcrumed at itslowerend as'at-5"- to the frame 6 of -the machine- A notch '1 formed in theilever 5 receives a lug 8 cast on the back of a power transmitting lever 9, pivoted as at 9 to the frame 6, and prevents its'operation until a proper coin has been inserted. A-bent arm lfl pivoted as at ll isfconnectedat'its lower end to the lock lever 5 by a] pinlZ sliding in a slot I13. A tension spring 14 pulls the'levers rearwardly and positions the notch-l in the pathof thelug '8; To provide for'the release ofthe lever 9, the

upper end of the arm lfipresses'against a horizontally arranged lever "l5 located immediately behind the coinmechanism lfi'; The leverl5, as i sionspring i|-8 holds its outer end in contact with the upper end of the arm ID.

A finger |9, formed on the lever l5 and projecting toward the coin mechanism, engages a coin as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6. This arrests the movement of the lock lever 5 and permits the power transmitting lever 9 to continue its movement in response to pressure on a roller applied by a lug 2| formed on a stamping 22 that is keyed to the hand lever .4. a

To advance the coins inserted to a suitable receptacle, I provide the lever 9 with a pin 23, with which is yieldably connected by a coil spring 23' a fiatstrip 24 slidably mounted as at 25 in connection with the frame. To the upper end of the strip 24 there is attached va casting 28 as shown in Fig. 5, in which is formed an elongated opening 21 arranged to receive a roller 28 carried by a pivoted bell crank 29. When the' lever 9 is depressed, the casting 2G'is also drawn down and transmits movement to the bell crank lever 25. In the pathot travel of the bell crank is a pin 30 carried by a slidably mounted angular bar member 3|. Also secured to the member 3| at the rear thereof is an offset angular member 32 which moves the coin forward from its original position of insertion in the receptacle when the bell crank is rocked by the casting 26.

At its lower end, the bell-crank 29 is provided with a pivoted detent :2 9* which contacts the pin 30 and when the bell crank has almost completed itstravel in a forward direction, the pin will slip away from the'detent, permitting the member 3| to return to its original position. When the bell .crank is released by thecasting 26, it will be returned to the position shown in Fig. 5 by a coil spring'30. On this return movement, the detent -will engage the pin 30 but due to its pivoted con- :nection, will pass over'the pin and stop in a working position.

Spring pressed detents 33 prevent rearward movement of the coin on the return of the mem- 'ber 3| in response to the action of the spring 34. Upon continued repetition of this action on the part of the member 3|,-a coin will be advanced step by step by the pivoted fingers 35 until it is finallydischarged into the coin chute 36 which communicates with the coin drawer 31. 1

' To insure completemovement of the lever 9, a spring actuated dog cooperates with a series of ratchet teeth .39 formed a projection pro- :vided-on the lever. Pivotally mounted at therear end of the lever 9 is a spring pressed finger "40 arranged tocontact with an adjustable extension .4| carried by one end of a shaft 42 mounted for rocking movement in bearings .43. As :the extension 4| is positioned in the path of movement'of the finger .40, it will be rocked upwardly thereby until its forward end moves out of. this path when it .willmove downward again in response to force apnliedto the shaft 42 by suitable springs.

Alug 4| cast on the side of theframe limits the backward rotation .of the shaft 142 so that the extension 4| will be in proper p sition .at the beginning of every operation. Y r

. Integrally formed with the shaft v42 is a downwardly. and outwardly directed projection '44 whichswings in unison with the shaft when the same is rocked. Situated inthe path .of travel of the projection 44 is a. raised lug 45 formed on an angular stamping 46, which is connected with the timing mechanism .41 (by .a shaft 48.. The .con-

' nection between the shaft 48 and the timing mechanism is such that it will permit free move-. ment in a forward direction but when backward movement is started, a clutch member will connect the governor 49 with the shaft 48 through suitable gearing to effect a slow return of the shaft 42 to its original position.

The governor 49 consists of a flat plate 49' to which is attached at each end a weight 49a. When the plate 46 is moved in a forward direction, a spring 50 which connects the plate 46 with the frame is stretched and when the pressure of the projection 44 on the plate 45 is removed, this spring tends to return the plate to its normal position. This sets the governor in rotation and the centrifugal force set up by the we ghts controls the speed of movement of the plate.

Alsoconnected to the stamping 46 by means of the link :50 is a flat lever 5| which carries, substantially midway between its fulcrum and the connection to the link, a cam shaped pivoted .dog member 52. This dog member when moved forward by the lever 5| engages with a pin 53 set in one end of a bar .54 rigidlysecured to the lower end of a vertical shaft '55; A spring 56 connected between the otherend of the bar and the frame of the machine tends to resist turning movement of the shaft by the dog member 52 and when the shaft is turned, will return it to its original position when the pin is released from contact with the dog member. Due to the fact that the dog member is pivoted, it can pass the pin 53 on its return stroke but the lug on the lever which meets with the projection on the dog forms a rigid connection when the lever is moved in a forward direction.

Carried at the upper end of the shaft 55 is an arm 56a towhich is-pivoted the spinning finger5l. A projection 58 on the finger engages a pin carried by the arm and is held thereagainst by the action of thespring 59.so that the finger will move in unison with the, shaft until its outer end engages with thenotched plates 60, 60, 60a, of the spinning mechanism after which relative movement will take place between the finger and the arm and the spring .59 will be stretched. The

outer end of the spinning finger is channel shaped andis provided with a roller equipped pin so that it can readily engage the notches in the plates.

The notchedplates 60, SD and 60a are mounted for horizontal rotation and the finger ,51 engages their notched ,edge in response to movement causedby the engagementof the cam shapeddog with the pin carried by the shaft 55. When the dog travels beyond the pin, the spring 59 will cause :the finger to jerk the notched .plates, causing them to spin. The finger will be moved out of the path of travel of the plates when the projection r58 meets the pin and the entire mechanism is returned to its initial position by the spring 56. v

Attached to the notched plates as shown particularly in Fig. ,9 are vertically spaced discs 6|, 6i and 6| a, each of which carries a plurality o1. relatively spac d circularly a ra g d racing-objects. Eachof these vdiscs is of different size and thesmallest disc 5| is arranged at the top and is connected bymeans of the .shaft;62 with the lower notched plate 60. The next or medium sized disc 61 is .c o nnected with the middle notched plateiill' and the lower and largest disc fila is rigidly attached to the nppernotched plate 60a. It should be noted at-this .pointthat .the notches in each plate correspond in number and position with t racing objects .on the .disc attached to it. The window opening .2 in the housing orcabinet islarfollowing simultaneous rotation thereof, I provide abrake mechanism 63 which is arranged to cooperate with the edges of the notched plates.

This mechanism includes a spring actuated, hook-shaped member 64 for each plate, pivotally mounted as at 65 in connection with the frame of the machine. Prior to the spinning operation of the discs, the brakes must be withdrawn from contact with the notched plates. To accomplish this,

' a yoke member 66 is also pivoted at the mounting by the frame is equipped with a roller 12 adapted to be engaged by a cam surfaced lever 13, the lower end of which engages another roller carried by the stamping 46. When the stamping is swung around by the projection on the shaft 42, the lower end of the lever 13 will follow the roller 12 in response to the power applied by the spring 14. This will permit the keeper H to drop down in back of the tongues 19 and hold them out of engagement with the plates until the stamping 46 moves back towards its original position when the cam surface on the lever !3 will raise the roller 12 and the keeper to which it is attached releasing the hook members one by one and permitting them to check the rotation of the discs.

The operation of the device is as follows: A coin is inserted and the hand lever 4 pulled toward the front of the machine. This causes the power transmitting lever 9 to swing about its fulcrum, causing the strip 24 to actuate the coin mechanism. Continued movement of the lever 9 results in the finger 40 engaging the extension 4| and rocking the shaft 42 in a clockwise direction. The projection 44 on the shaft 42 will set the timing mechanism and at the same time the projcction 69, also on the shaft 42, will disengage the brakes 64 from the notched Wheels. Following this, the cam shaped dog 52 will slip off the, pin 53, causing the finger 5| to spin the discs and notched plates. Further movement of the lever 9 permits the'finger 40 to travel past the end of the extension 4| and the shaft 42 rocks counterclockwise by the action of the spring 42' conheating the frame and the projection 44. Thisv releases the timing mechanism to .which is connected the brake, actuating mechanism. After a certain period of time has elapsed, the cam on the lever 13 will engage the roller on the keeper 1i and slowly raise it, releasing the hook-shaped braking members progressively and stopping the discs one by one and in varied sequences. The lever 9 is returned to its period of rest by the coil spring 9a when pressure is released on the handle 2. This handle must be returnedto its original position before the machine can be operated again.

What is claimed is:

Ina combined coin controlled vending and amusement furnishing apparatus, a cabinet having a sight opening formed therein, a plurality of spinners mounted for rotation about a substantially vertically disposed axis arranged within a 35 said cabinet, each of said spinners possessing a different diameter than the diameters of the remaining spinners, circularly arranged relatively tively arresting'the rotation of said spinnersin. varying sequences.

JERRY F. co RE 

